List of BC Lions head coaches

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Wally Buono is the Lions' all-time leader in wins and is the only head coach to win two Grey Cups with the Lions. Wally Buono (March 2009).jpg
Wally Buono is the Lions' all-time leader in wins and is the only head coach to win two Grey Cups with the Lions.

The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and are members of the West Division in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The franchise was founded as an expansion team of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU) in 1954. [1] In their 56-year history, the team has appeared in nine Grey Cup finals, and has won five championships. [2] The Lions' current head coach is Rick Campbell and the current owner is Amar Doman. [3]

Contents

The Lions' first head coach was Canadian Football Hall of Famer Annis Stukus, who coached the team for two WIFU seasons. The Annis Stukus Trophy—awarded annually to the CFL's best head coach—is named after Stukus. [4] In 1958, the team joined the CFL as one of their charter members. [1] Clem Crowe coached the Lions for its last two seasons in the WIFU and was their first head coach in the CFL. After coaching the first three games of the 1958 season, Crowe was replaced by a group of seven people who coached the Lions for the next two games. Dan Edwards was named head coach for the remaining 11 games. [1] Dave Skrien was the first head coach to coach the Lions for more than three seasons. In his seven years coaching the team he led the Lions to two consecutive Grey Cup finals, including the team's first championship in 1964. [5]

Vic Rapp coached the Lions from 1977 until the end of the 1982 season. [6] [7] He coached 96 regular season games with the Lions, which ranks second among Lions head coaches. Rapp won the Annis Stukus Trophy in the 1977 season, the only Lions head coach to do so without winning a Grey Cup championship. [8] Hall of Famer Don Matthews took over the coaching position in the 1983 season and coached the Lions until midway through the 1987 season. [7] He led the Lions to a Grey Cup championship and was named the Annis Stukus Trophy winner in the 1985 season. [2] [8] Matthews' .706 regular season winning percentage is the best among Lions head coaches.

From 1988 until 2002, no Lions head coach term lasted as long as four complete seasons. During this time, the Lions won the Grey Cup championship twice: under head coach Dave Ritchie in 1994 and under Steve Buratto in 2000. [2] Adam Rita is the only head coach to have had multiple tenures with the Lions. As of the end of the 2011 season, Wally Buono is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached, regular-season games won, regular-season points, playoff games coached, and playoff games won. Buono coached the Lions to their fifth and sixth Grey Cup championships and was awarded the Annis Stukus Trophy in the 2006 and 2011 seasons. [2] [8] He is the only Lions head coach to have won more than one Grey Cup. Excluding the group of seven, and counting Rita once, there have been 26 head coaches for the Lions franchise.

Key

Head coaches

Adam Rita was the first head coach to have coached two stints with the Lions. AdamRita.jpg
Adam Rita was the first head coach to have coached two stints with the Lions.
Mike Benevides set a franchise record for most wins by a rookie head coach. Mike Benevides.jpg
Mike Benevides set a franchise record for most wins by a rookie head coach.

Note: Statistics are current through the end of the 2021 CFL season.

#NameTerm [b] GCWLTPTSW%PGCPWPLPW%Achievements [8] [12]
Annis Stukus 19541955 32626012.188
Clem Crowe 19561958 351024121.300
[c] 1958 20200.000
Dan Edwards 1958 113806.273
Wayne Robinson 19591961 391422331.397202.000
Dave Skrien 19611967 924245589.484853.625 1963 Annis Stukus Trophy winner
52nd Grey Cup championship
Ron Morris 1967 10100.000
Jim Champion 19671969 38828218.237
Jackie Parker 19691970 221012020.454101.000
Eagle Keys 19711975 702542353.379202.000
Cal Murphy 19751976 261014222.423
Vic Rapp 19771982 9653394110.573523.400 1977 Annis Stukus Trophy winner
Don Matthews 19831987 8056231113.706743.571 1985 Annis Stukus Trophy winner
73rd Grey Cup championship
Larry Donovan 19871989 261412028.538422.500
Joe Galat 1989 1477014.500
Lary Kuharich 1990 102715.250
Jim Young 1990 10100.000
Bob O'Billovich 19901992 431825036.419101.000
Dave Ritchie 19931995 543122163.583532.600 82nd Grey Cup championship
Joe Paopao 1996 18513010.278
Adam Rita 19971998 271116022.407101.000
Greg Mohns 19982000 342212044.647202.000
Steve Buratto 20002002 351421129.414431.750 88th Grey Cup championship
Adam Rita 2002 1293018.750101.000
Wally Buono 20032011 162101601203.6271477.500 94th Grey Cup championship
2006 Annis Stukus Trophy winner
99th Grey Cup championship
2011 Annis Stukus Trophy winner
Mike Benevides 20122014 543321066.611303.000
Jeff Tedford 2015 18711014.389101.000
Wally Buono 20162018 542826056.519312.333
DeVone Claybrooks 2019 18513010.278
Rick Campbell 2020 2021 1459010.357

Notes

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References

General
Specific
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